THE CASE FOR WI-FI: BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES FOR MOBILE OPERATORS IN AN LTE WORLD

Operators that offer Wi-Fi services, and are successful with the technology and the emerging monetisation options, will increase their customer satisfaction scores and reduce churn.
The benefits and challenges of deploying Wi-FiPlayers in the Wi-Fi ecosystem frequently regard Wi-Fi as competing with cellular services, but Wi-Fi is playing an increasingly important role in mobile network operators' (MNOs’) approaches to traffic management, increasing customer satisfaction and controlling churn – particularly for MNOs that also offer fixed-line and content services. Monetisation strategies and business models are developing to make Wi-Fi a valuable cellular service partner.

This report provides:
an overview of the roles that Wi-Fi has in a cellular network
details of the key concerns that operators have when considering Wi-Fi deployments and how critical the concerns are
an examination of the business models that operators use when they have deployed Wi-Fi.

DATA AND GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE

Data in this report is based on published and unpublished Analysys Mason research, including discussions with relevant operators and vendors worldwide. Some information comes from the Analysys Mason/Amdocs Wi-Fi study (Service provider Wi-Fi: a unique global perspective on control and monetization strategies, January 2013) of 33 fixed, mobile and integrated operators in 24 countries.

COMPANY COVERAGE

The following vendors and operators were included in discussions and interviews for this report.
Alcatel-Lucent
Amdocs
AT&T
Boingo Wireless
China Mobile
Ericsson
Etisalat

Everything Everywhere
Huawei Technologies
iPass
NTT DOCOMO
Ruckus Wireless
Samsung
Sprint

Telecom Italia
Telefonica
Virgin Media
Vodafone
Zain.